Tag Archives: michigan

According to radiationnetwork.com, the United States’ radiation monitoring network, South Bend, Indiana experienced extremely high levels of radiation last night — up to 100 times higher than safe levels.

Last night, live records for a radiation monitoring station near the border of Indiana and Michigan showed radiation levels as high as 7,139 counts per minute (CPM). At 1:55 a.m., Eastern time, the radiation level was at 2,558 CPM. The level varied between 2,000 CPM and 7,000 CPM for several hours.

Normal radiation levels are between 5 and 60 CPM, and any readings above 100 CPM should be considered unusual and trigger an alert, according to information listed on the Radiation Network website.

The online geiger counter monitoring network operated by Black Cat Systems also reported unusually high radiation levels in the same region.

This article will be updated as more information becomes available.
UPDATE: As of 2:45 a.m. Eastern Time, the radiation level for the station in Northern Indiana had risen to 3,989 CPM. Radiationnetwork.com has yet to issue a statement in response.

UPDATE: Radiationnetwork.com has issued the following alert:

Very high reading in South Bend, IN station this evening. Reason unknown. Station unresponsive to contact at this late hour. Since this same station has triggered the Alert system before, which Alerts may have been false, and because his current readings do not appear to be corroborated by nearby stations, we have disabled his station for the time being. Will report back when we know more.

UPDATE: Radionnetwork.com issued the following statement this morning:

The alert level reading last evening appears to be a false alert from an equipment malfunction. Here is the station’s report:
“out of control readings on the GeigerGraph screen from about 11:30pm local time that occurred while sleeping. My apologies to all. I have no idea what caused this. Shut down GeigerGraph and restarted. Readings from the Geiger were in the normal range (the Geiger operates on A/C). All cable connections are tight and not loose. Am speculating between the GFI and USB Adapter and some sort of voltage spikes. The uninterruptable power supply UPS had lost power and had died – a tripped GFI. I am not going to leave the system running while not at home until I can determine and fix the problem.”

A Chinese Group Plans To Construct A 200 Acre “China City” In Michigan

A Chinese group known as “Sino-Michigan Properties LLC” has bought up 200 acres of land near the town of Milan, Michigan. Their plan is to construct a “China City” with artificial lakes, a Chinese cultural center and hundreds of housing units for Chinese citizens. Essentially, it would be a little slice of communist China dropped right into the heartland of America. This “China City” would be located about 40 minutes from both Detroit and Toledo, and it would be marketed to Chinese business people that want to start businesses in the United States. Unfortunately, this is not just an isolated incident. In fact, Chinese companies have been buying up land and businesses all over the country in recent years. There has even been talk of establishing “special economic zones” inside the United States modeled after the Chinese city of Shenzhen. It was inevitable that the Chinese were going to do something with the trillions of dollars that they have made flooding our shores with cheap products. Now they are rapidly buying up pieces of America, and many of our politicians are welcoming them with open arms.

The town of Milan, Michigan is a small farming community of only about 6,000 people, but big changes are coming their way. The following is from a recent Dayton Daily News article about this new project….

A group of mainland Chinese known as Sino-Michigan Properties LLC paid $1.9 million for 200 acres of farmland on Milan city limits in purchases this year and in 2011, according to local officials and property records.

Unfortunately, the goal does not appear to be to integrate this new “city” into the existing community in and around Milan.

Rather, it appears that all of the new housing will be sold to people coming over from China. According to the Milan News Leader newspaper, the new housing units “would be marketed to Chinese business people who want to start companies in the United States”.

In essence, we would be looking at a new Chinese city right in the middle of Michigan.

Doug Smith, senior vice president for business and community development for the Michigan Economic Development Corp., recently said the following about what the Chinese group plans to do….

“It’s a group that wants to build a China city, starting with housing over there in Milan”

Milan is not far from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, which is a very popular destination for Chinese students. Apparently that is one reason why Milan was chosen.

This new project would be a Chinese community built by Chinese and specifically designed for Chinese.

But isn’t this supposed to be America?

Fortunately, the project does not have final approval yet. It still must be approved by the two townships outside of Milan where the land is located.

For some reason, the Chinese seem to be particularly interested in this area of the country.

For example, a different Chinese investment group has been busy buying up chunks of real estate over in nearby Toledo, Ohio. The following is from an article in the Toledo Blade on May 26th, 2011….

Dashing Pacific Group Ltd., which has already purchased the nearby Docks restaurant complex for $2.15 million, put its $3.8 million offer to buy the southern 69 acres at the Marina District in East Toledo back on the table for approval by Toledo City Council. Additionally, Dashing Pacific Chairman Yuan Xiaohong, in a letter signed in Hangzhou, said the firm wants a two-year option to buy the decommissioned Toledo Edison power plant property on the site.

So should we be alarmed that the Chinese are buying up pieces of America?

Well, if they simply wanted to enjoy living in America and wanted to integrate into the wider community that would be one thing.

But it is another thing altogether to start dropping slices of communist China inside of U.S. territory.

In a previous article entitled “China Wants To Construct A 50 Square Mile Self-Sustaining City South Of Boise, Idaho”, I discussed a potential deal that Sinomach (a company controlled by the Chinese government) was exploring with the government of Idaho. The following is a description of that potential project from an article in the Idaho Statesman….

A Chinese national company is interested in developing a 10,000- to 30,000-acre technology zone for industry, retail centers and homes south of the Boise Airport.

There was talk that this “technology zone” would be modeled after the “special economic zones” that have been developed in China. The city of Shenzhen is perhaps the most famous example of this.

Fortunately that deal appears to have stalled, but other mammoth deals have been moving forward in other parts of the country.

For example, the Chinese have been very busy gobbling up oil and gas fields. The following is a quote from a local Texas news source about a deal that a company owned by the Chinese government did with Chesapeake Energy down in Texas….

State-owned Chinese energy giant CNOOC is buying a multibillion-dollar stake in 600,000 acres of South Texas oil and gas fields, potentially testing the political waters for further expansion into U.S. energy reserves.

With the announcement Monday that it would pay up to $2.2 billion for a one-third stake in Chesapeake Energy assets, CNOOC lays claim to a share of properties that eventually could produce up to half a million barrels a day of oil equivalent.

You can read more about that particular deal right here.

So is it really a good idea to be allowing the Chinese to buy up our precious energy resources?

The answer to that question is obvious.

Sadly, the examples noted above are not isolated incidents. The truth is that the Chinese have been snapping up real estate and business assets all over America as a recent Forbes article explained….

According to a recent report in the New York Times, investors from China are “snapping up luxury apartments” and are planning to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on commercial and residential projects like Atlantic Yards in Brooklyn. Chinese companies also have signed major leases at the Empire State Building and at 1 World Trade Center, the report said.

So get ready – the Chinese are buying up U.S. land and they are moving in whether you like it or not.

So what will the long-term consequences be of allowing a communist superpower to buy up large sections of America?

Detroit — A 56-year-old woman faces multiple felony charges and is being held on $500,000 bond after a 10-hour standoff with police, claiming she was protecting her 13-year-old daughter from unnecessary medication.

Maryanne Godboldo, 56, was arraigned Sunday before 36th District Magistrate Sidney Barthwell Jr. on charges of firing a weapon in a dwelling, felonious assault, resisting and obstructing an officer, and use of a firearm in the commission of a felony. Barthwell set an April 8 preliminary examination.

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“What has happened here is a travesty,” said Wanda A. Evans, Godboldo’s attorney. “This family has never been under the jurisdiction of the court. This shouldn’t have happened.”

Godboldo is accused of barricading herself inside her west side home with her 13-year-old daughter and a gun after being confronted Thursday afternoon by Child Protective Services workers who had a warrant to remove the girl because the mother had withheld her medication. Detroit Police said Godboldo fired a shot and refused to leave the home until negotiators, including a Wayne County judge, helped talk her into surrendering.

“We talked that day mother-to-mother. I asked her to come out on her porch and I promised I would come here today to walk out with her,” Wayne Circuit Judge Deborah Thomas said Sunday after the hearing. “I’m shocked by the amount of the bond. I never dreamed it would be set so high and she wouldn’t be free to care for her daughter.”

Godboldo’s family and supporters, who gathered outside the court Sunday, said the woman has every right to make medical decisions for her daughter and that child welfare workers overstepped their authority. The unusual circumstances of the standoff attracted a large crowd of volunteers offering to help negotiate with Godboldo, including ministers and community activists.

Thomas said she eventually talked Godboldo out with a promise her daughter would be turned over to a relative, but family members say the girl was taken into protective custody anyway. Evans said a hearing on removal of the child will be April 6 before Wayne County Juvenile Referee Leslie Graves.

Penny Godboldo, a dance professor at Marygrove College, said she and her sister, Maryanne, trained as dancers in New York before opening a studio in Detroit. Maryanne Godboldo became a stay-at-home mother after the troubled birth of her daughter, who was born with a defective foot that required amputation of her leg below the knee.

Maryanne Godboldo home-schooled the girl. She said her strength and confidence grew, and despite her handicap, she swam, sang, danced and played the piano.

Penny Godboldo said as her niece approached middle school age, she wanted to attend school but needed to catch up on required immunizations.

“We believe she had an adverse reaction to her immunizations,” Penny Godboldo said.

“She began acting out of character, being irritated, having facial grimaces that have been associated with immunizations.”

Evans said Maryanne Godboldo sought help for her daughter from The Children’s Center, an organization that helps families with at-risk children, where a medical and mental health treatment plan was developed. Godboldo told relatives the medications ordered by the doctor worsened symptoms, including behavioral problems.

“It is an undiagnosed condition, but the doctor had given her psychotropic drugs that caused a bad reaction, made things worse,” said the girl’s father, Mubuarak Hakim. “Maryanne’s decision to wean her from that was making a difference, making her better, helping her to be a happy kid again.”

A rally for Godboldo is planned for 9 a.m. Saturday at Hartford Memorial Baptist Church, 18700 James Couzens Freeway.

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder signs his first bill as governor at the State Capitol in Lansing, Mich., on Tuesday March 8, 2011.
(Credit: David Coates,AP Photo/The Detroit News)

Michigan lawmakers are on the verge of approving a bill that would enable the governor to appoint “emergency managers” — officials with unilateral power to make sweeping changes to cities facing financial troubles.

Under the legislation, the Michigan Messenger reports, the governor could declare a “financial emergency” in towns or school districts. He could then appoint a manager to fire local elected officials, break contracts, seize and sell assets, eliminate services – and even eliminate whole cities or school districts without any public input.

The measure passed in the state Senate this week; the House passed its own version earlier. The two versions of the bill are expected to be reconciled next week, and Republican Gov. Rick Snyder has said he will sign the bill the bill into law.

Democrats and their allies are decrying the legislation as a power grab and say it’s part of a wider effort taking place in several states, such as Wisconsin, to weaken labor unions.

“It takes every decision in a city or school district and puts it in the hands of the manager, from when the streets get plowed to who plows them and how much they are paid,” said Mark Gaffney, president of the Michigan State AFL-CIO. “This is a takeover by the right wing and it’s an assault on democracy like I’ve never seen.”

U.S. Rep. John Conyers, a Democrat who represents Detroit, said in a statement that in a given city, the governor’s new “financial czar” could “force a municipality into bankruptcy, a power that will surely be used to extract further concessions from hardworking public sector workers.”

He said the legislation raises “serious constitutional concerns.” On top of that, he said, allowing an “emergency manager” to dissolve locally elected bodies “implicitly targets minority communities that are disproportionately impacted by the economic downturn, without providing meaningful support for improved economic opportunity.”

Republican state Sen. Jack Brandenburg said several urban areas of the state, especially Detroit, are in “bad shape” and require “financial martial law,” the Daily Tribune reports.

The emergency manager, he said, “has to have the backbone, he has to have the power, to null and void a contract.” In response to concerns that local leaders will have to cede control, Brandenburg said, “I’ll tell you what, I think that in a lot of these places there is no control.”

An emergency manager would only be put in place if several other steps to save a city’s finances failed, and Snyder has said in recent weeks that removing elected officials or breaking contracts would be a last resort for an emergency manager. In addition, the legislature would have the power to remove an emergency manager.

As the “emergency manager” bill nears final passage, state lawmakers are also considering Snyder’s proposed budget, which would cut spending on schools, universities, prisons and communities, according to the Detroit Free Press.

Snyder has also proposed eliminating $1.7 billion in tax breaks for individuals while cutting $1.8 billion in taxes for businesses to spur job growth. Much of the $1.7 billion in new tax revenue would be “coming from retirees, senior citizens and the working poor,” the Free Press wrote in an editorial.

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